


Rhythm

by Slauba



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (Comics)
Genre: Angst, F/M, German, Xmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 23:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15982751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slauba/pseuds/Slauba
Summary: It used to be just Cadence and Erik against the world, until she was taken away from him. Several years later, what has drastically changed?This is the story of how Erik learned to love and how Cadence came into his life and completely changed it.





	1. Prologue

The room was cramped, cold and stank with the stench of slowly decomposing bodies as sin surrounding frail bones tried to scoop whatever was in the bowl in front of them. Others just huddled together for warmth; their thin clothes did nothing to stop the cold from chilling their bodies. Tall guards in Nazi uniforms sneered and shoved them, barking harsh words in German until the Jews cowered away like the rats they were called. It was painful, moreso for the females…and one in particular.

She was a new-comer along with her mother who sat beside her on the frozen bench, vainly trying to stomach the food in front of her. It slid down like sand and mud; she didn't doubt that's what it actually was. She looked like a Jewish girl; dark hair and eyes and fairly tanned skin…but her pitch black hair was from dye gone wrong and her tanned skin was from being in the sun as a small child in California. American. But nobody believed the quiet duo, her mother was small in stature but the girl had seen her move cars with a flick of her tiny hands. They had moved a lot and had been on their way through Poland when their train was overrun by the Nazi's and that had been it; they had been wheeled away to the camp and forced into the biting cold.

"Eat up." Her mother whispered while she wrapped an arm around the young teenager as men patrolled the aisles. Her daughter said nothing, just stared down at the bowl.

The mother ran a hand through the dirty hair, heart beating as people watched them. Families had been split up going through the gates, they were the lucky two. They needed to get out of here soon, she could feel hem growing closer to their location. Ten years on the run and now they were straight in the palm of the enemy. Cadence sighed against her mother and Mary squeezed her closer. She could feel the end coming for both her and her daughter.

The door to the cafeteria opened and several Gestapo's entered coolly, it was already silent but the silence turned dead as the men slowly stepped into their space. Mary hugged her child closer; the tingling that had begun in her palms began to shoot up her arms. She wasn't finished yet though her daughter needed her.

"Mom?" Cadence followed the men with their eyes as they mumbled to the other guards and conversed before slowly walking towards where they were. Everyone averted their eyes in fear. The other people around her began to weep silently and her own heart began to beat wildly under the thin clothes she had been forced into, "Mom, they're coming."

"We'll get through this together," Mary kissed her cheek and smiled as the Gestapo's came to their table, faces stony and boots gleaming with polish as they clocked together. Their eyes were cold and unforgiving. Mary stared at them, face calm as Cadence cowered behind her, shivering.

"Come with us." One Gestapo ordered, voice cracking from the broken English as his cloned face flashed to the woman.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he stared at the mother and daughter below him. Herr Schmidt had only wanted the girl but the mother was already obviously not going down with a fight. His knuckles crack beneath his leather gloves. What Schmidt wanted with them, he had no idea. They were rats, not even close to their Aryan perfection.

"Nein."

His men bristled behind him at the mother's refusal but he raised a hand, keeping calm himself. He had expected that. He ran his hand over the needle in his pocket, Schmidt had been very insistent to take down the mother though, should she make any problems. He grinned, enjoying the way the other prisoners shied away and how the mother's eyes narrowed in suspicion and uncertainty.

"Get the girl.  **Holen sie sich das Madchen.** "

In a flash, the mother had leapt up, throwing her hand out and yelling at the top of her lungs in English for her child to run. But he had been expecting that as well. He reached out violently, jabbing the needle into the woman's neck as his men dove for the stumbling girl. He kicked the mother down to the ground and they slammed the butts of their pistols into her body. The woman kept slapping at them as if she could throw them away with a single touch.

"Cadence!"

"Mama!"

The girl was fighting in his men's arms valiantly, hands clenched and teeth bared as she pounded on their arms and any other place she could reach. The prisoners around them had evacuated the area, ushered outside to start their day. The other simply stared, saying nothing, they knew better than to try and play the hero. Liquid squirted out of another needle as the Gestapo man walked over the bloodied woman on the ground, stepping on her hands and crushing them.

Mary was on her stomach, blood leaking out of her mouth and head as she watched the Nazi walk up to her child. Cadence was screaming and fighting, eyes wide in fear and adrenaline as he got closer. The shot had completely numbed her body, numbed her abilities as well. She could barely move. Mary watched in complete pain as the man stooped down and watched Cadence shout furiously in the man's face, cursing and struggling helplessly. They watched in amusement until the Gestapo laughed cruelly and whispered something. Cadence looked to her mother suddenly in fear and pain and Mary knew what the picture must look like; her on the floor in a bloody mess, unable to move and save her child any longer. The floor was so cold.

Cadence could feel the anger, the pain and the biting fingers digging into her flesh from the Nazi's as her mother began to fade into the ground. He Gestapo man simply watched her, holding that needle carelessly in front of her face. She growled, feeling the energy wash through her like adrenaline as the bowls on the table began to shake and rattle.

The Nazi's shouted in surprise as tons of bowls began to shoot off the tables and straight for their heads. One smacked the Corporal in the face, snapping in half as Cadence focused eyes wide and beginning to go fuzzy. She grinned as bowls. Silverware and glasses began to break and viciously shoot around, flying in midair then changing directions.

_Now was enough._

The Lieutenant drove the needle into the girl's neck as well; the side of his face was numb from a fork scraping across it.  **Was zum Teufel passiert?** _ **What the hell had happened?**_ He pulled the needle out and tossed it to the ground.

So that's why Schmidt was so adamant about these two, he looked to the mother, already passed out then he looked to the trembling girl as the drugs took over her body and wreaked havoc.

"Mom…"

He snapped his gun across her face and she fell forward, landing hard on the floor besides her mother, completely out cold. He wiped his face and his uniform before looking out the trashed tent, everyone was petrified…but he couldn't take the risk of these swine talking to other about what happened and forming some kind of hope. He fixed hi collar and began to walk to the entrance.

" **Greifen die beiden und bringst sie zu Herr Schmidt. Gas den Rest.** _ **Grab those two and take them to Klaus. Gas the rest.**_ **"**  He barked to the young cadet who had snapped to attention before turning and nodding. He walked forward, shouting in anger at the men and women and children.

His men dragged he girl out along with the mother and carried them to the military house on the opposite side of the bent metal gates. He looked to see the Jews shuffling in and the others towards the showers in fear. He turned up his head, pulling his hat down further before making his way to the building as well. Rats, the whole of them.

When the young girl came to her sense, she already knew that her future would be short lived. She knew that escape would be near impossible and she also knew that she'd never see her mother again. She also knew that surprises would be few and far between, torture was something she could easily predict though.

What she didn't know or predict  _and_  that surprised her, was a boy a few years older than her sitting in the corner of the room where he was focusing on a metal spoon with a book in his lap. He didn't move, didn't even look up at her as she sat up in the bed and pulled on the metal handcuff on her right wrist. He just stared at the rust, old spoon.

Her body hurt, every single nerve and muscle was shot and sore like she had been working in the camp for years. She felt so damaged, vulnerable for the very first time. She tried to get that rush going through her system but her mind just wouldn't work with it, she was scared, her new abilities wouldn't work. She pulled in the handcuff again; the clink of the metal rang in the room. She tossed the sheets off of her, unsurprised to find them dirtied from her clothes. The boy finally looked up at another harsh clang of the metal on metal; she let out a pained whine as the metal rubbed raw against her already raw skin.

" **Sie werden sich selbst verletzt. Stop.** _ **You'll**_ _ **hurt yourself. Stop**_. " The boy set the spoon and book down and walked to her carefully. She glared at the German boy and his grey-blue eyes. He stopped and stared back, his mouth formed words but nothing came out. He sighed and clenched his fists before tilting his chin up higher, "You alright?"

His American accent was scratchy so he obviously barely spoke English. She blinked as the boy sat down close to her, she shouldn't trust this guy, fellow teenager or not. Men were the worst to women, her father had been living proof of that…but he seemed…different.

"Do you…speak…"

"Yeah. I'm American, you're not." She nodded and the boy's lips twitched upwards for a second, "I'm Cadence."

"Erik."

"Do you mind…helping?" she held up her hand, still chained and still hurting, Erik stared for a second in confusion before focusing and pulling a key out of his pocket and quickly undid the cuff. The chain fell to the floor with a thud and she rubbed her wrists gratefully, massaging blood back into her wrist. Erik sat down again, this time closer. She pulled in on herself, "Uhm, thanks. Uh-danke."

"Let me." He pulled her wrist away and she let him as he looked over her red-cut skin and she felt a tingle shoot up her wrists as he gently traced the cuts. He was warm next to her and the metal headboard behind her seemed to vibrate as he leaned back and continued to rub her wrist. She could smell something static in the air, she only smelt this when she was around her mother.

"You're one of me, aren't you?"

He said nothing, merely ran a gentle hand over the bruises. There was a knock and both of their heads snapped up to watch an older man come through with a gentle smile…armed by four not so gentle guards. Erik tightened his hand around hers, their palms fit snugly together as the door snapped shut behind the man.

"Good to see you awake my dear. My name is Klaus Schmidt." The man smiled, Cadence bristled, "I do send my apologies about you and your mother but your people don't go quietly."

She was pissed, anger clouded the-

Klaus was slammed back by the lone chair in the corner, his entire body cracked against the wall as the chair legs cracked and blocked him in. Cadence moved her hand in an arch, getting up from the bed and letting go of Erik. The soldier's guns flew from their hands and into their faces, knocking them out cold. She flattened her palm in the air and the chair pressed harder as Klaus' body. Her pupils flared with hate. Klaus smiled.

"Cadence." Erik barked, the girl faltered. Klaus easily fell out from the chair legs and the wall as Erik contracted the metal in the chair back, settling it back in its place on the floor gently.

"Where's my mother?!" she fumed angrily, as Klaus straightened his uniform and smoothed back his hair. So much for the guards, "What have you done with her?"

"Now Cadence, my dear. You need to cal-"

"No!" she boldly pushed her hands out again and every loose thing in the room began to tremble. Her voice scratched, Erik stepped away wisely, eyes wide, "Tell me!"

Klaus just watched in fascination as the objects crowded around her defensively, she was in complete control yet such an amateur. Her mother must have trained her day and night for the young girl to control her abilities like this. They had been on the run continuously from the U.S. government and it had obviously paid off for the thirteen year old girl…the trick now would be trying to calm he down and get-

"Cadence, your mother is alive. I feel her, she's one of us. You need to listen to my voice." Erik pushed past the change and objects around her, completely unharmed as he grabbed her reddened wrist softly. The objects wavered and a few dropped to the ground, "You're safe."

She dropped her hands in defeat and Erik himself smiled smugly as everything clattered to the floor. He instinctively pulled the metal towards his feet, the metal crowded around his torn leather shoes and vibrated in warning.

Klaus picked up a fallen gun from one unconscious soldier and in a flash Erik had pulled the gun through the air and put himself between Klaus and the broken girl. The young teen's eyes were on fire and his chest heaved, Klaus simply smirked and clapped his hands together.

"You two will be quite the team." And he walked out, kicking the men awake as confidence filled his every por. The men groggily got up and followed in confusion and the kids were shut out, alone. Quite the powerful team indeed.

In the room, Cadence had collapsed on the bed again, all energy had washed out of her and Erik followed suit.

"I'll stay. By your side." Erik grabbed her hand softly and squeezed. It had been so long since he had company…and now here she was…another mutant like him. Another freak but she was still alive and living, using what she knew to survive. He couldn't have felt more content. Cadence looked to their hands then to him, eyes softening and he nodded, "I promise."

"Thank you Erik…I…I promise too then."

They stayed there, staring at each other and suddenly, the world wasn't so cold and biting anymore even in the middle of war.

 _My life was going to change by you, wasn't it?_   Cadence looked outside.

 _You were going to alter my future, our future. I know it._  Erik watched the snow begin to fall.

  


 


	2. The mission

They had been crouched near the building on another smaller building for what seemed like ten hours already but still no call came in for clarification, or out for that matter. They wore nothing but the clothes on their back and a single Luger pistol strapped to their thigh. They didn't need the gun though, going in practically arms-free was the way the preferred but it looked cooler in the long run. Cadence leaned back against the concrete wall they had been camped out on and watched a soldier ruffle through his bag for water. Yeah, definitely looked cooler.

The American building loomed just within their reach but Schmidt still had to give the all clear to actually start busting in windows. She preferred to just get the mission over with, but of course the German was too uptight to do that. She shifted and pressed her back against a strong shoulder until the arm gave in and moved around her, she nestled into Erik's side as he re-organized himself and continued to bend the copper square in front of him. He had been staring at it, reshaping it for five hours and forty-eight minutes. He began in the morning, now it was evening…she wouldn't have had the patience for that.

He had grown up a lot, as expected over five years since she met him in the Nazi camp, both of them had been scrawny and naive but now they filled out nicely. He grew into his broad shoulders and she finally managed to grow into her hips…she still had a problem with brownies though but hey-fuck it. Sometimes she'd catch herself staring at his face, his grey-blue eyes would never move and his strong jaw would clench whenever he was irritated but someone would have to be close to catch it. He was handsome at twenty one and no doubt would be smoking as he grew. Unlike her, eighteen and still having trouble with everything about her and the way her wrists were too skinny. But they had both grown mentally in ways that really shouldn't be normal. Erik was darker than she was, always brooding with a frown on his face where she smiled and teased sarcastically just to get a small smile. He was the one though who always followed orders no matter what whereas her tendency to disobey could prove annoying.

They were there to protect each other though, he was the only one who she allowed to even touch her skin and she was the only one who could get under his skin in the good ways.

"You're fuming." Erik muttered softly, pulling on his new turtleneck that he had gotten a few days ago. It had been a surprise, this sudden obsession with turtlenecks but she couldn't complain. She had an obsession with her silver ring.

"It's called thinking."

"Then you're doing it loudly."

"We could have done this on our won, you know. These people will just slow us down and create too much of a mess and you know it." She flicked her eyes to the soldiers and Erik just sighed.

"I know. Just be patient in the meantime. Go over the plan in your head, do you have everything mapped out already so we don't' get mixed up?"

"Yes-yes I've got everything down, now come on Erik. That house is full of metal. You could easily crush it faster than they could load a bullet into the chamber." She complained and Erik had to agree. He could feel the metal in the building, soft tingles of electricity ran under his skin with the knowledge, "And I could get the body up and out before they even jump down their ladder."

"You'd drop the body and let it splat all over the pavement below. You lack control when you're excited."

"And you're so much better Mister Aluminum gas tanks?" she shot back wickedly but he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Alright, truce."

She laughed and wiggled closer and began to talk about nothing to fill the silence. Erik's heart sped up for a moment before settling down and he relaxed once more, breathing in carefully as the metal in front of him contorted and twisted. She was warm and content obviously.

"Hey, you remember when we tag teamed that group in the beginning of the year? The one with the face masks?" She craned her neck up to peer at him as she traced a finger over a scar on his arm. All he remembered was them screaming as the masked men tried to torture them for information on Klaus. They had waited for the right moment, broke out and ended them all.

"What're you going on about?"

"We did it completely by ourselves. No help." She stretched out her hand and the copper triangle floated into her palm. Erik smoothed it out and she began to spin it as he formed it into a top, "It's easier when it's just us."

Just us. It rang in Erik's mind as Cadence gently handed the top back and resumed her position cradled into his side. He moved with her and see the metal aside, there was an attraction between them, nights together had proved and accelerated their relationship greatly. But still, it was nice when she was like this against him. He closed his eyes for a moment, the evening sky-

"Red to Lensherr." His earpiece cracked to life and they both jumped up, Cadence listening to her s as well as Klaus came through, "You've got the all-clear. I want it don't quick and fast. We've got their reinforcements blocked for an hour."

"Roger. Lensherr out. Positions, men!" he nodded and turned to the men as they immediately sprang into action and dropped down the ladder before running across the street and waiting.

Cadence grinned from where she was crouched near the edge of their hideout, palms spread as he moved farther away and took a running position. The soldiers would enter from the bottom and attack, serving a distraction as Cadence and he searched for the Senator.

"Ready, Cadence?"

"I won't let you fall." She stood wide and narrowed in on him.

"Just get me through the window." He took out his gun and eyed the shiny window across the gap. She rolled her eyes but continuously waited tensely. He gave the order to the men and waited for the bang on the-

**POP** - **POP**.

He ran, listening to the shouts below them and sprinted past Cadence, leaping through the air and shooting his gun and watching as the glass shattered and fell out. Cadence pushed out, feeling static shoot from her body and through the air as she focused on Erik's midflight body. If Erik had been focusing on the sudden suffocating power of her telekinesis then he would have felt the invisible hand that wrapped around him carefully and held him up from falling fifteen feet down but he was more focused on not dying. She hadn't been lying though; she had been practicing grabbing people. Cadence pushed and Erik landed on the windowsill, gripping the sides before pulling himself in and exhaling a loudly in relief.

He looked back out the window to find Cadence bent over, huffing for breath. She was cursing loudly under her breath and wiping at her nose. So…so much for controlling it.

"Cadence! Cadence are you alright?" he spoke into the earpiece and she came in gasping 'Sorry!' over and over again. She waved to him and he pressed against the wall, holding his weapon and looking down the hall as she sprinted across the roof and used her own power to fly through the air.

She crash landed into the building, barely catching herself on the window before he helped pull her in where she flopped onto the floor, nose bleeding as well as some cuts on her arm from the glass. She stared up at him, regaining her breath.

"Thank you…for not dropping me."

"Don't patronize me-Erik!" she jumped from the floor and slammed him into the wall as a door opened next to them, she grabbed the curtain hanging from the cracked open window and tugged it so the open window was blocked. The hallway collapsed into darkness and he pressed her closer to him, trying to make them both fit in the small hideaway.

Two men walked out and turned the other way, completely unaware. Once the men turned the corner and they couldn't feel their presence anymore, Erik and Cadence slowly stood out. They both let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." He smiled and bent down, kissing her and she smiled before pulling back with a whimpering groan of her own.

"Erik…the mission."

"Right." He shook his head and they began to run down the hall, "The Senator should be a floor or two below us…according to Klaus."

They stopped as they burst through a door only to find a full-fledged firefight beginning in front of them in the lobby below. They ducked behind the railing and Erik shielded them from any loose metal debris.

"Well…this will have consequences." Cadence growled as she flicked her wrist and two opposing men went flying over the railing.

"Let's go!" he grabbed her and they sprinted through another door, she locked it and then they both stood still, "Cadence?"

"He's still here, I can feel him." She ran her hand over the wall next to her and they slowly made their way down another hallway, Erik softly trailing behind. It was quiet and the hallway never seemed to end in the darkness, like a maze. They made their way to a fire exit, Erik lit a match as they stepped into the stairwell, "Anything?"

There was a crash below them, they peeked over the side to find a flashlight fumbling down. Erik twitched as the man-or woman- began to sprint down the stairs. He took off, momentum gaining.

"Erik?!"

"The Senator!"

She groaned and took off after him, palms slapping into walls as she began to lose her footing and momentum control. Erik was one stairwell ahead of her and she could just make out the Senator's heavy footfalls below as well. She wheezed and cradled her side as she began to take multiple steps at a time; a piece of metal had sliced through her side earlier when Erik jerked her up. It was getting harder to breathe now…

She smacked into Erik's back, throwing her completely off balance and to the side. She let out a groan and sat up as Erik pushed against the wall in front of him…she looked around, no Senator.

"He's not here."

"Secret wall." He let out a huff and pushed again, the tendons in his neck strained from the force he was using and hair fell in front of his eyes, "Fuck, I can't figure out how to…hey, do your thing."

"You could say please ever once in a while." She got up, knocking away his hands and leaning her forehead on the wall, closing her eyes.

"Cadence what are-"

"It's a new way, I call it 'the not giving a fuck how I do it' way." She opened her eyes to glare before focusing again.

The fun thing about her form of telekinesis was that not only could she move and feel inanimate objects, but she could also literally get a layout of its inner mechanisms and workings to get what she wanted as long as she was touching it. Kind of like a blueprint sketch sort of deal, and god knows how much this has helped them in the past few years. She was still perfecting it though.

"Anything?

She could see the latches behind the wall easily, everything was spreading out before her like a field.

"Secret room, you were right. Beyond that is an elevator and another room, private." She pulled away from the wall and turned to him, "Stand back."

He did and she pressed against the wall, sliding right and pushing gently with her palms as she maneuvered the inner workings of the secret-wall. No metal, perhaps some old working of wood.

The wall gave away and spun like in the old cartoons, Erik slid in first and she grabbed the wall, swinging it close behind them. Erik was already to the elevator on the other side of what looked like some old barrack system. Probably used for hiding, as usual. Cowards, Cadence followed as Erik tensed and a screeching noise reverberated around the room as he forced the elevator to come to him. She clasped her hands over her ears and grit her teeth as the doors dinged open.

"You need a muter." She grumbled as they stepped in and he began to lower them with an outstretched arm, "You broke it didn't you."

"I'm concentrating Cadence, please." He ground out, the elevator jerked and she slid down the wall, closing her eyes as she mapped out the building again. They were technically in the basement of the secret building.

Why they were going for some outcast Senator she didn't know, all Erik or Klaus told her was that the man was important and vital to Klaus' plans…whatever the German's plans were for the future.

The elevator landed on the bottom with a crash, jostling her up and onto her feet as Erik wrenched open the broken doors, she slid through into the inky blackness of the room. There was a faint blue light coming from a door in front of them. There was a clang and Erik stepped close to her, snapping his fingers, and the lights flickered on. There was a crash on the other side of the door before it was silent again.

"He knows."

"Good. Let's get him then." Erik walked and slammed his hand against the door…to find that nothing was happening. It was like everything was muted, "I…I don't…"

"What?" Cadence watched, holding her side again as Erik repeatedly tried to push the door open with his power, "He's on the other side, there's nowhere else he can go."

"Well I can't the metal proofed every damn thing." Erik slammed his fist and roared to the door, "You're not safe in there you vermin! Do you hear me?"

"Erik! Calm the fuck down!" she smacked his shoulder and he snarled, all white teeth as she reached up and pulled off her bobby pin and smacked it into his palm, "Break it."

"Cadence we don't have time-"

"Do it Lensherr." She growled and he sighed, turning from the door and effortlessly snapping the barrette with a thought, "Good, now slide it under the door."

There was no use really hurrying now, the Senator had essentially locked himself in a bank vault. Erik let the bobby pins float down to the ground and slide under the crack. She closed her eyes and held Erik's wrist and placed her other hand on the brick wall. All Erik had to do was make the pins jab into the guys' spine or something, incapacitate him for a minute while they figured out a way to break in.

"H-Hey!" the Senator yelped, probably spotting the bobby pins that were now floating midair. Shocks of blue spread from her palms as she tried to see the room and keep track of Erik's pins, she could feel them vibrate with his power.

"He's in the far left corner, crouched under the line of fire." She whispered to Erik, Erik said nothing, simply moved the weapons in a downward slope.

He could feel the man's metal watch where she said he was. He rotated the pins until they were nothing more than a spinning blur, Cadence's nose began to bleed again, focused too much on controlling her own power and keeping track of Erik's to guide him. Erik suddenly aimed for the man's throat, drifting the metal closer. Cadence dug her sharp nails into his flesh and he could feel her kinesis pushing against his own power, trying to stop him from going closer.

"Erik! Don't you dare!" She snapped, pulling away from the door and staring at him with black eyes.

"I had my orders, you had yours." Erik could feel fear in the other room but Cadence's uncertainty and anger stood out.

"Erik! Don't kill him!" she pulled away completely from the door, still trying to injure his wrist as she used her powers now to battle his for the weapons, "Our orders were to capture and incapacitate until told otherwise!"

"…Yours were. Mine weren't."

"Erik!" she screamed.

He pushed her away, flinging his hand out and the weapons sunk into their mark. There was a gurgle on the other side of the door and Cadence collapsed to her knees, clutching her head as she tried to pull the metal from the man's heart but Erik effortlessly held it in. he felt elated, energetic as he heard the final dull thud from the body on the other side.

Cadence was painfully bent over, whimpering in pain as she felt nothing wash over her from the other side. The senator's pain had projected to her, the telekinesis sometimes screwed her over, made her actually feel other people's emotions. Three mutations in one person was rare, she knew but then again she was the only mutant besides Erik that she knew of.

Erik radioed for success before quickly gathering the nearly-passed out girl in his arms. She was a bloody, emotional and exhausted mess. He wasn't sorry for the man but he was for her. Erik called the elevator to them and got in, watching as she slowly lost consciousness in his arms. He shifted and focused on bringing them up again.

When he reached the first room the wall swung open again, Cadence gave a snort as he slipped through and began making his way up the stairs slowly.

He could hear the choppers thudding in the air by the time they reached the lobby, the enemy was being held hostage as he made his way down the stairs as fast as he would allow himself, she was bleeding out on her side.

A straight backed Klaus turned around just as Erik made it out the front doors, he clapped his hands together and gave a grin then frowned as he saw Cadence in his arms, slowly coming to her senses.

"The Senator is down the back stairs, down a broken elevator and through another door. He's been taken care of." Erik bit out swiftly as Klaus led them to a chopper. Klaus nodded as men rushed inside the building.

"And Cadence? Another failure obviously."

"She was the one who figured out where he went. If anything, she was the one who did the entire mission." He growled as the medical team strapped her to a gurney and they lifted up into the air, "She's just exhausted Klaus. She's only a kid and we expect too much of her."

"I expect just enough of her." The older German spoke before going to the cockpit and slipping headphones on, Erik sighed and sat next to her gurney as the medic's hooked her up, she smiled up at him gently. His jaw was set in anger and she brushed a finger across his cheekbone.

"I told you he'd be pissed. I'm defective Erik, face it."

"You're not…defective. You're perfectly fine." He took her hand and kissed it, "I should have listened to you, and I have no conscious when it comes to Klaus."

She laughed then sucked in a breath from the pain.

"At least you can carry out an order, not be a subordinate little ass. If it weren't for you I would've fucked off by now." She smiled and looked out the chopper window as they raced away from the scene of the crime, "Whatever Klaus decides to do with me…don't do anything foolish alright?"

Erik only sighed, still gripping her hand.

 

* * *

 

** 24 hours later in a German base **

The ceiling was ugly, the wallpaper was a mix of red flowers and revolting dark green leaves. The combination hurt Erik's eyes even though the room was dark from the blackout curtains. He had been staring at the ungodly wallpaper for a couple hours now, unable to sleep. Klaus had said nothing to the both of them when the chopper landed. Erik had been the one to haul Cadence into her room and secure everything before walking through t heir adjoined bathroom and collapsing into his own bed.

Their "base"-apartment- wasn't far from where Klaus operated. They were near Berlin, just outside another small town but Klaus had forbade them going into the city for a place to stay so they had been stuck with this one. More or less it was an abandoned two story building that Klaus had been now using to store weapons…and them. He knew Cadence was a bit of a loose cannon when her emotions over took her, he'd seen her nearly collapse structures when she got scared. She wasn't dangerous though, neither was he. Maybe.

I'm defective, Erik.

The words hadn't stopped ringing in his head; he had ransacked his own room in anger from those simple words. The metal headboard was twisted cruelly, he'd have to fix it later…if he felt like it. He was still young, twenty one but it felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Cadence didn't do well with guilt, or grief, she turned cold and distant. It was why she always followed orders to the point, they were the only things that guided her when nothing else made sense, and they helped her when her conscience failed her as well. But she never had trouble with following Klaus' orders on a regular basis, especially when Erik's own orders were tweaked a little bit…so why had she refused yesterday?

Erik got up quickly, padding to the bathroom before even finishing the thought. The tile was cool as he entered but the carpet quickly warmed his feet as he softly entered her joined room. He slowly opened the door, following the new moonlight that drifted over her form on the bed. She was sleeping, as she had been for the entire day (like him), the blankets were piled high at her feet as she curled in on herself. For a second, Erik hesitated but Cadence stirred and lifted her arm and clumsily waved.

"I'm awake Erik, its okay. You can come in." She patted the bed sleepily but didn't move from where she had been staring out the window.

He gave in and slid into the soft bed right next to her, pulling a sheet over them, she scooted back and he wrapped an arm around her comfortable, kissing her bare shoulder before sinking in. they always used to do this, growing up in the coldness of Poland, when they were left alone on the camps. They had nightmares, Cadence had those worse, and it's why she always had a need to touch him, touch people. Skin-to-skin contact was the only thing that calmed her down. She probably had been touch deprived as a kid, her mother's mutant abilities hurt her from time to time so her mother had tried not to touch her at all.

They still were kids, being chest to back like this made him feel smaller, younger. Erik sighed and she tangled their legs together, feet cold as she slid her fingers through his. He felt her heart beat.

"Why did you stop today?

"Are we really having this conversation?"

"Yes. Now why?"

"From killing the Senator?" she shrugged, "That man…it just didn't feel right, like a piece of the puzzle was missing in order to end his life. It didn't feel justified to me, just hollow."

She rolled over, pushing him back until she could lazily drape herself over his stomach to face him, he ran a finger through her dark hair and she closed her eyes contently. He needed a haircut soon, he could feel his hair just brushing his eyebrows.

"Maybe you're losing your touch." He murmured and she opened her eyes to over exaggerate an eye roll.

"Not funny, Erik." She leaned up and kissed him, letting the feeling of her lips melt against hid as they moved together lazily. Her tan skin was so smooth beneath her t shirt. She pulled away, but stayed close.

"Klaus isn't going to let me stay, in his eyes I've failed him."

"You're fine. I' won't let him, I'm stronger than him and I can take him."

"We're still young and cocky, but I appreciate the thought." She looked away and he tugged her closer. He wasn't built the way he wanted to be yet but he could still easily cover her and Cadence didn't have the petite frame either, "I wish I was never like this, Erik. I wish I had been normal in the camps…this…kinesis makes me so…it kills me."

There was a beat of silence before Erik got up, faster than a shark in the water. Cadence just flopped back where he had been as he fumed at the foot of the bed. This was also inevitable.

"You can't even accept yourself now? Cadence…I don't…" he let out a groan of frustration and anger. She just looked bored.

"I've never accepted this Erik, I'm not like you." She sat up, "I can't control my impulses when something pops out at me! Things go flying and people get hurt which makes me even more stressed which makes things go flying even more."

"You haven't' killed anyone on accident with something as small as a-"

"A what? A bobby pin? A piece of tin foil? Klaus locked me up in this room for a month because I couldn't even fucking lift a car! I would rather have died than go through the things he put me through because I wasn't his perfect little soldier yet like you had been! I can barely function in a supermarket!" she was angry now as well.

Everything metal in the room vibrated, the small useless things in the room began to hover as well.

"You don't try hard enough then! Your powers just can't fail you! You don't have blood on-"

"My hands?" her expression crumpled and in an instant Erik regretted his words. She seemed to lose all the fight out of her as she just sat in the middle of the bed, "I had to kill her Erik. I was the one who brought her death, in front of people to deliver the message to the prisoners. I don't have blood on my hands? I have blood that's thicker than any metal you can bend in my veins that splashed onto my hands that day. My powers failed me that day, I couldn't go through with it and Klaus punished me for it. How can I not hate myself? How can I not hate this…this mutation in me?"

Erik's anger dissipated like mist and he sighed before going over to the young girl and sitting quietly besides her again. He tried to pull her down on the bed again, she resisted and he leaned his forehead against her shoulder as she tried to stop the tears from falling. He knew her pain all too well.

"Cadence."

"Erik."

"Lie down…just, please?" he flexed his fingers, feeling the vibration of the ring she wore on her right finger. She did with a nod and they resumed their tangled position. She traced over a scar on his chest, right above his heart.

"I love you, Erik. I do."

"I know…"he kissed the top of her head, hut turning at the words she spoke, "I love you too."

Within the minute she was sound asleep, buried next to him. He stared out the shining window to the sky and dying stars that she had been staring at. Erik felt something grab ahold of his heart as the stars continued to shine. He shut the curtains with a though. He would die to keep her alive.

He closed his eyes, following the blackness behind his eyes.

* * *

 

The second the door flew off its hinges and into the room, Klaus Schmidt knew that there would be a fight waiting on the inside for them.

He watched as Erik flew out of the girl's bed (no surprise there) and covered Cadence as her mind struggled to keep up with the intrusive invasion. Klaus had hoped Erik had stayed to his own room, this was going to make things a little harder than usual.

The soldiers came in but Erik deflected all of their bullets as Cadence started whipping her hands, dislodging things in the room and making them smack into the men. Klaus smiled to himself as the two worked together to take the men down, in the hallway with his backup men he was seething with pride. They were nearly the perfect team.

Cadence through a nightstand, finally knocking the men out as the broken bits of wood shattered in the hallway.

"Show yourself out there!"

He walked through the door at Erik's tired shout; the boy was still high on adrenalin and had already flung a knife as Klaus walked through. Cadence saw him before Erik did and caught the metal with an outstretched hand right before it found its mark between Klaus' eyes. He should have made her his bodyguard.

"Erik." She touched the boy's arm calmly and Erik's stormy grey eyes cleared into a green color, focusing on Klaus as Klaus picked the knife from the air.

"Thank you Cadence."

"Is this another training surprise?"

"What's going on? Why did they attack?" Erik pushed Cadence behind him, white teeth bared in anger as the men on the floor got up and shoved furniture off of them, "Klaus! What's going on?"

"I hope you two9 had a good night. "Klaus ignored the boy, still standing next to Cadence who looked as confused as ever, hand still tentatively open in case of another attack, "Cadence dear, you're needed elsewhere."

"What?" she stumbled as the soldiers moved to grip her shoulder and push her forwards. She tripped over her feet and struggled to stay back, "I don't…Klaus"

"Stay still." He ordered, slipping a silicone cuff over her wrists and tightening until she winced. There was one thing about her that he liked, she was obedient in the worst of times…he snapped them together before his thoughts could lead elsewhere, "There."

He smiled to himself as the silicone cuffs glowed for a moment, Cadence suddenly groaned and slumped to the ground.

"Cadence!"

Erik leapt forward from where he had been standing but Klaus swiftly jabbed his elbow into the boy's ribcage which sent him tumbling to the ground as the bone bent oddly. Erik smacked hard on his knees and squeezed his eyes hut in pain. Klaus shook out his arm as he felt his own ability tingle. That would have definitely hurt. He turned back to the girl who was now struggling in the men's grip. Her hands kept twitching and opening. Nothing moved to help her.

"What did you do?! What is this? Erik?!" she snapped and Klaus gripped her chin, forcing her to stop struggling, Erik looked up from his prone position on the floor.

"My lovely Cadence…you're of really no use to me anymore." He smiled cold and her eyes widened in fear, he could see the pure fear as bright as day in the chocolate irises, "these…restraints will make sure you don't hurt my men, and it'll make it easier for them to finish you."

"What? Fucking hell Kl-"

"Destroy her."

"Cadence, no!" Erik yelled and reached out but one soldier kicked his bruised side solidly, making Erik wheeze and tumble over again. Cadence screamed and Klaus crashed his mouth harshly onto hers, biting her lip as she struggled against him.

He pulled away with a sneer and she spat at his face, missing and getting his shoulder. She glared at him with anger, anger he could feel vibrating through her body as she bared her teeth in a silent growl. He nodded to his men and they kicked her legs out from under her and began to drag her out of the room. She kicked out as they jammed a towel down her throat and a wrap around her eyes. She screamed beneath as the dragged her out of the room and down the hall.

Erik was kneeling by the bedpost, holding his side and breathing heavily through his nose, Klaus knelt next to him and Erik flinched away.

"Erik…young Erik. I need you to have no attachments. She was a loose end and slowed you down." He watched Erik's eyes turn cold and grey, "You're young and all of this will fade in time…She wasn't like you, wasn't like me. Us. And we can't have that, differing views you know."

Klaus stood up and with one last glance to Erik walked out of the room and straightened his hair and uniform.

Lessons needed to be learned tonight, hopefully the boy would understand or else Klaus would have to kill him too.

Erik fell to his hands and knees as soon as Klaus had disappeared down the hall. He could feel his chest squeeze until he could barely breathe. He shut his eyes and slammed his fist into the floor, he felt the hand around him finally break its hold where his heart was. He could have sworn he was bleeding internally.

It just…her. It. Not her. Not Cadence, not his friend. Fuck!

Erik looked at the wreckage around him, the metal vibrated and he whipped his head up, letting loose a bloodcurdling scream.

Outside the building, Klaus watched the building explode and crumble in on itself. He smiled. Good, he could make something of the boy yet. Always with the emotional pain that kid.

* * *

 

**3 hours later**

Fuck Klaus. Fuck Nazis. Fuck Klaus and his fucking…face. Fuck his everything with a hot iron and pointy god damn needles.

Cadence flexed her hands, finding that nothing happened and warmed up…which wasn't a surprise. She could smell the leather and cologne around her due to the car and the men which was amazing because with all of her crying she had done she would have thought her nose would be stuffed up. But she had to stop crying…it's what Erik would have told her to do, remain strong.

So she was still blindfolded, wrists bound with the silicone technology and thankfully not gagged anymore but it didn't make anything easier. They were on a dirt road, that much she could tell and most likely incredibly far from civilization. She had her eyes open beneath the dark cloth, her fingers tapping out a rhythm in her lap as she tried to focus on everything around her.

Fucking hell, she was going to kill Klaus. This, she knew she wouldn't fail.

Hearing Erik in pain, being dragged away down the hall and beaten into the car…it was worse than watching her mother die by her own hands. Erik was the only one…he…

No, keep it together.

"What was that?"

She looked around her at the question as the vehicle slowly rolled to a stop. She could hear the metal of the guns click around her and she felt the tension rise as the driver turned the car off.

Erik was here, she could feel someone else outside. That odd electric feeling rose through her, it was the same feeling when she tried to feel where Erik was in the building. Both of them had the power to sense other mutants, she had only ever sensed him this way.

There was a strong presence outside, it strengthened when tow of the men got out and the cool air rushed in. very strong…almost too strong.

But now's your chance.

She yelled, blindly throwing her elbow to the left and connecting with the distracted Nazis eyebrow…or cheek. He cried in pain and confusion and she kicked out. She slammed her back against the door and began to kick wildly. The man slammed her head into the window and she pressed both of her feet to his chest and pushed back…only to find herself tumbling out of the car.

There was no time to fucking waste. The dirt rose up around her and she heard gunshots ring out as she crawled away at the exact moment crunching metal and metal parts squealed like nails on a chalkboard.

Her bound hands found purchase in grass just as there was an angry roar and several screams echoed from the Nazis, she couldn't make out anything beneath the damn tight blindfold, her head was still reeling from being thrown to the ground. Wait, thrown? She wasn't thrown she was-

Footsteps-

She rolled onto her back, putting her hands up to block the attack,

A force slammed into her crossed arms, human skin rubbed rawly against her. Twigs snapped under her but she only saw the dark shadow of the man towering over her from the blindfold. It was silent, she could hear the heavy breath above her. She could smell wood, spices, alcohol and that other smell of a-

There was a rumble through the ground and a pop resonated somewhere in front of her or below her. The smell of gasoline and smoke filled her senses as the man above her slowly pulled away.

There was a tiny prick on her cheek and the blindfold was tugged off and light was slammed into her eyes. A large silhouette loomed over her as she struggled to sit up with her cuffed hands. He was the strong presence and definitely not Erik.

The man sank onto his calves, crouching and grinning with sharp teeth as she took him in and inched away; short hair, piercing brown eyes, beard and a massive build. He could easily kill her.

"Well, well, well. Where are you from?" he cocked a heavy eyebrow and she looked at his heavy jacket, boots and layered shirts…then his sharpened nails which retracted when she stared.

"You…you're like…" she frowned, and the man stood up, towering over her like a shadow. He just smirked and looked at his nails nonchalantly.

"So are you." His eyes flashed dangerously over her, "I've got a keen sense of smell and you stand out."

She looked around as the man sat down on a rock with a grunt, he sighed and Cadence shifted back, still looking…she couldn't find the car.

"You're dear friends decided to take a hike." The man motioned to the edge of the drop off and leaned back, "Not much left of them now."

Cadence got up and inched over, spotting the smoking and burning wreckage about forty feet below. So that had been the pop she heard, she eyed the man again.

"Can you…?" she held out her wrists and he reached over, slicing them easily off with a sharp fingernail. That was…his abilities were amazing.

A tingling feeling ran through her body and she sat up again, it was like a head rush as her blood flowed back and her powers filtered through her once again. A rock hovered in front of her for a moment and she smiled in relief.

"My name's Cadence." She looked at the other mutant, the man had to be at least in his late 20s early 30s, but still, another mutant, Erik and she had only known each other…Erik.

"Victor Creed." He held out a hand and she shook it, his nail scraped against her skin and he grinned ferally before retracting back.

"Your mutation is amazing." She watched as Victor snapped a twig in boredom.

She looked behind her, there was no going back now. No matter how much her heart was sliced up and hanging inside. She wasn't strong enough, not like Erik would be in this situation. He would just keep going on…Erik, oh Erik. Cadence's throat seemed to be…she couldn't…oh fuck, Erik.

"You're young." Victor stared at her, bringing her out of the pain in her mind, "What were you doing with-damn."

Cadence frowned as he stared around them, she looked up noticing rocks, twigs and branches floating around her. Crap, that tingling sensation must have thrown her powers out of whack with her.

"They uh, they intended to kill me." She got up, dusting herself off and managing to tamp down her powers, "Which, thank you by the way."

"No problem," and he got up, his giant coat fanning around him as he turned away and to the dry forest. She reached out blindly, pulling the tip of his jacket back forcefully with her power. Victor jerked back with a growl and raised an eyebrow, "Need something kid?"

"Please. The men who tried to kill me…I need to get him back and there's no way in hell I can do that right now."

Victor and her stared in silence. His eyes were a deep brown but she could see he was contemplating…and if not then she'll just have to convince him.

"Alright." He grinned with sharp teeth and began to walk forwards again, throwing her a look over his broad shoulder. Cadence joined him as they stepped into the forest. Focus on Klaus. Focus on Klaus. Focus on Klaus. Focus on Erik.

Revenge.


	3. 7 years down the road

Outside of the mansion it was raining, for the first time in what seemed like weeks. There was the dull background noise of Charles speaking behind him about further advancing Alex's beams or whatever it was the kid did. Whatever Charles was talking about, it provided a good distraction from the starless sky and the un-drunk glass of Irish scotch in Erik's hands.

Everyone else was either asleep or still up and down in the practice rooms doing what they did, there was no doubt Raven was in the weight room probably hoping he would go and hit on her again.

It was his fault really, making the passes in the first place and the looks. She was beautify when she was her true self, the blue of her skin was fascinating.

_Her skin was still softer though, even when Klaus had beaten the hell out of her-_

Erik gritted his teeth and walked from the window to one of the lounge chairs as Charles began to make his way to his chair again, picking up a notebook to jot some notes down. He couldn't think about it now, he had gotten over it so long ago. Hopefully.

Charles drew a circle and another on his diagram as he watched Erik sit on the couch rather harshly throwing an arm across the back of the chair and folding his legs while clutching his drink. He had been like this for the last couple of days; angry, repressed and even more quiet than usual…he had also started to speak German more frequently, something he only did when things annoyed him. Charles looked up as Erik put his drink down carefully, Charles gently brushed inside the man's head, only finding angry buzzing like a bee. He pulled back, not missing the way Erik's eyes flashed to him, another thing Charles had grown used to about the man.

"Yes, Charles?"

"I'd ask what's on your mind but I doubt you'd trust my intentions."

Erik curtly laughed and shook his head, no answer then. Charles leaned back on his hand, finger brushing against his temple precariously. All he had to do was wait, usually Erik fumed before his burst-

"It's…today's the anniversary of someone I used to know."

Well that didn't take long at all.

"For who?"

"A girl I grew up with." Erik offered but then his eyes grew dark again and Charles caught a glimpse of a trashed hotel room, "They took her away from me."

"I'm sorry, Erik." Charles frowned and Erik ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the neck of his shirt, "Is she…?"

"They told me there was no body. She died on this day a long time ago."

"I…I don't know what to say Erik." Charles watched him shrug.

There was still so much to Erik Charles didn't know, still so much pain and Charles knew this girl was only part of it.

"Neither do I." Erik stood up, "Good night, Charles."

Charles watched Erik go out the study and disappear into the halls of the mansion, his thoughts still buzzing over a name.

Charles returned to his notebook, writing it down and underlining it in red ink. There was still so much to figure out about everyone here before they came to face Shaw. Still so much work to accomplish.

The bedroom was pitch black, as it usually was. A single metallic ring spun in a slow circle before Erik, casting a light around the room in an array of white flashes when the sliver of the moon through the curtains caught it. He looked again to the sky, he was  _so close_ to killing Shaw and taking revenge not just for his mother now but for her as well.

This was something he could do to make up for that day, something he knew he wouldn't mess up.

He put the ring on the table and walked to the bathroom, flicking his hand out and watching the cold water shoot out of the faucet. He splashed it on his face, feeling the cold break his skin and force him to shiver as he leaned on the tile, head down. With water dripping down his face, he stared at himself in the mirror.

When he slept nowadays, all he could hear was her screaming. He closed his eyes.

Arms of a ghost wrapped around him, the euphoria of the past was intoxicating in his mind. Erik smiled as he heard the whisper of a failed joke, the punchline too early or messed up. She always got them wrong, just to annoy him.

Then there was the tapping she did to annoy him as well, he could see the way the metal part of the eraser stroke the desk when she sat with him going over maps. He'd try to get her to cooperate and eventually he always tore the pencil apart from the metal; she'd just smile, raise an eyebrow and take out another one.

_"_ _I thought I told you it was annoying."_

_"_ _I'm rebellious." She tapped the pencil on a pair of scissors, knowing he'd feel the vibrations through his power. He had half a mind to just shove those-_

"Erik!" 

Erik opened his eyes, wrenching himself away from the faucet and into the wall like it had torched him. The warmth left his body, slowly falling down until it seeped into the floor as he breathed. Charles knocked again.

"What?"

He wrenched the door open, nearly catching Charles off balance as the young telepath stared at him.

"Alarms were set off by Hank and Alex from the outside. Someone may have tripped them-Erik…are you alright?" Charles tried not to stare at the red rims in Erik's eyes.

7 years. 7 years. 7 years kept repeating throughout Erik's head, not even bothering to tamp them down in front of Charles or at least put a shield up. The older man was practically screaming at Charles, no longer a pleasant buzz in Erik's head.

Erik wiped his face with a towel calmly.

"Erik."

"Yes, I'm alright. No time to waste though." He pushed past and Charles led him down the hall at a run, storing Erik's thought away in his own head as they raced to catch up with the others and find the intruder.

In the room behind them, the ring fell off the table and spun effortlessly.

 

* * *

 

 

**Cadence**

It was like a castle, tons of windows and tall pillars. Cadence could picture knights on horses as she crouched next to a tree, still getting rained upon even with the cover of nature. Her shows were covered in mud ad her hair was plastered to her face and a complete mess. She sighed, trying to pinpoint the window they could climb up the easiest, she couldn't get a good read on the house, she'd have to physically touch it but the black windows helped a bit compared to the lit ones.

Victor moved behind her, eyes sharp and keen along with the other mutant they had stumbled across a few months ago, a half-snake boy.

"It doesn't look at all empty." Cadence turned to Victor and he shrugged, picking at a cut on his wrist that he hadn't bothered to heal yet, "I can feel people."

"Doesn't matter. But it's be a good hideout from the storm." He tugged his jacket closer as the rain fell and fell and fell. She stood up trying not to notice the blue coloration on her arms and the stiffness of her legs.

Victor stood beside her, his large body covering hers as he ran a nail down her arm, the heat radiating off of him only brought a tight smile to her but not a whole lot more. It wasn't real anymore, not really.

"We need shelter now. My skin is getting to slick even for my liking." Snake flicked his forked tongue out, his scaly brown skin indeed glistening more than usual. His yellow eyes looked to hers, unblinking, "The place looks relatively easy to sscale."

"Right." Cadence pulled away from Victor and they began to sneak towards the mansion.

"Kill anyone who gets in our way." Victor's claws extended and Cadence held out her palm as Snake hissed in satisfaction as they began to scale the walls like they weren't even tricky, "Spot us."

She had been with Victor since that day seven days ago. Running from place to place and getting stronger with her powers…she didn't need to divide her focus now, within a couple minutes she could take down an entire building and still eat a bagel a block or two away. Ruthless, Victor had told her to aim for that, and she had conformed to that. She need to not feel pain, to not care. It was the only way to end Klaus.

She had lost track of him in Europe and came to the US, the two of them had kept a low profile and had done well keeping off the grid so far. They had searched for his brother, Logan or something for a while but Victor wanted to keep his distance for a while longer. The last she had heard of Klaus, he was somewhere in Mexico, she just had to patiently wait now.

The rain was heavier as she snuck her way behind a gate and tunnel, Victor looked down to her as he began to pick a window lock. It was cold, just like that morning she was sent away.

She had gone back to the house a month later, to see if Erik was still there but the place had been demolished. She had cried and went on an angry rampage, Victor had said she finally had the mental breakdown and had created a crater where the building had been. Erik had finally been ripped away, she was empty; incomplete.

Victor had almost filled the hole in her but he wasn't the same. Rough around every edge and quick tempered and protective. Erik had been rough but like metal to him, he bent under different heats. Nobody could replace or even remotely replicate him; where people saw him as cold she saw him as careful, cautious…sweet.

" _Cadence_."

She looked up as Snake slithered into the open window followed by Victor. She got up and jogged across the wet grass, still drenched in-

"HERE!"

Cadence whipped to the side at the sound of the new voice that had come around the corner of the house.

Two people ran around with flashlights, waving them around the tree line. Fuck. They must have tripped some alarm or something when they hopped over the entrance gate coming in. No rich person  _doesn't_  have a security system.

The two people were running closer along the dirt path, she swore and ducked under cover again as they went by. The one with longer hair had two fingers to his temple as the girl wildly looked around, Cadence looked up to Victor to see him in the shadows. Cadence crept out, following the flashlights go further down the path.

She ran out, slipping in fear on the ground, falling heavily on the gravel with a cry. Shit.

Light shone over her head for a second.

"Hey!"

No-no-no-no-no-

Cadence got up as the light flashed to her, she jumped on the building and pulled herself up, feeling a blanket like a hand wrap around her as she flew up faster than she had ever gone with her power. Victor reached out to snatch her in, she slit her leg on a broken nail just as the two people ran to where she had fallen. God, her heart was beating so fast, a deep drumming and a constant whirring in her mind.

Victor growled as she tumbled onto him and then onto the empty attic ground. She winced as blood trickled out of the cut but she was healing fast. Victor got up as Snake hastily slammed the window shut and began to push things in front to block out everything.

"You almost got caught!" Victor turned to her as she pushed herself up and wiped water off herself.

" _We all_ almost did. Security was tripped when we got in. I'm thinking the gate."

"You did ram it." Snake input and Victor roared, claws out and swiping the air threateningly.

Lightning cracked outside, stopping Victor's anger. Cadence went to a box of old sheets, dumping the contents out and coughing at the stale and dust. God, the cobwebs. She ripped an old cloth and wiped her leg and curled up in another one.

"Get dry, both of you." She glared as the men picked up some and took off their clothes to hang. She curled up in the corner, putting a hand out to clear her area comfortably.

The sheets were warm as she settled and after a moment Victor came and sat next to her back, dipping his head back and closing his eyes…she was…she leaned into him, closing her eyes as well and drifting off.

* * *

 

**Charles**

They were drenched completely when Charles and Erik re-entered the mansion. Raven and Hank were already in there with towel ready as Alex and Sean stood in the kitchen looking at the alarms that had been activated on the laptop.

"Thank you." Charles took the towel and they followed Hank to the two others. Erik skipped the towel.

"Did you see anyone?" Alex looked up as Erik took over the laptop, grey-blue eyes still distant. Charles set to making warm drinks as a shiver ran through him.

"A girl. She ran away, probably back to the woods." Charles set the pot on the stove, lying. He could feel another mind, another curious wisp on the wind, "I…I couldn't read her thoughts though. She had some sort of mental wall put up."

"That's weird." Raven frowned and Erik looked up, finding nothing, "The gates were completely broken though. Like a car came through."

"No cars though." Hank put in. They all grew silent, puzzled as Erik served the tea and coffee. That girl…Erik had felt something tug in his chest when Charles had flashed his light over her. She was too far away to see clearly. Strange.

Charles sipped his tea lost in his own thoughts finally. Something didn't feel right. Psychological mental blocks were easy to peer through but the girl's head had been flawless.

Made of complete stone…it…something wasn't right.


	4. It had only been a memory

When Cadence woke up, it was to the sound of Victor and Snake arguing over nothing as usual. They weren't compatible at all, she wondered on a daily basis why Victor didn't just kill him already, he was perfectly capable of it.

Cadence rolled over, feeling the warm sun on her face…and feeling disgusting and wet. She kicked off her wet sheets, thankful she had the sense to take off her shoes last night and sat up, cringing as her pants rubbed her the wrong way.

"Cadence."

"What?" she snapped to Victor, the two watched her in amusement.

"Layout, now."

She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on the floor and closed her eyes.

"It's a mansion, so there are more than a dozen hallways and secret ways as well. Several levels on this wing and several more in the other three wings. There's an office a few stairs below us and…" Cadence looked down the tunnel vision of her mind, "In the basement there's two people and in the kitchen there's at least four…having breakfast probably."

"Definitely not alone then." Victor murmured and sniffed the air. Cadence stopped looking and removed her hand from the prickly wood, "Might as well introduce ourselves."

"We're good for now." She got up as Victor opened the attic door, peering down below. He slid out and Snake followed close behind with a heavy thud, "Unless you're going to be as loud as a firecracker."

She jumped through the hole softly, barely moving her hand to the attic door above her as it closed. Victor and Snake were already moving down the hall and peeking into open rooms warily.

She went after them, going down the stairs for a few flights where they went up. The dark reds and browns that hugged the mansion walls and floors were very beautiful creations despite the dust that clung to the furniture. Typical rich people, big houses and crap tons of furniture that they'd never see again.

She could still sense the owners down below as she made it down another level and ventured down a hallway instead.

_Vvvwww_

Cadence's heart jumped as well as she did, her back slammed against the wall as a blonde girl stepped out of the elevator, staring down at some mail. She was tall and completely oblivious to Cadence as she shouldered into another room.

Well crap.

Cadence fumbled behind her, finding the doorknob and quickly slipping back as the blonde came out again.

The doorknob slid in quietly as the girl boarded the elevator again.

Cadence let out a relieved sigh and turned before slipping to the ground, heart slowing down. How the hell did Victor make it? He was a monster, she looked up and blinked before her mouth fell open in surprise.

The office…of someone who most likely had a library somewhere else as well in this mansion. It was beautiful, Cadence got up and walked to the shelves and ran her hand over the well-loved books beneath some dust. She used to read alto, back when Erik and her had the time to just wait on Klaus to throw them into-

No. stop.

She pulled her hand away from the books and stepped back into the desk. That was a long time ago, she needed to stop thinking about it. She turned, going to pick up the name plate that had fallen off the desk.

Charles Xavier

"Hey!"

She dropped the plaque, spinning around at the man who had entered. Tall, blonde with sharp blue eyes. She raised her hand out as he glared, clenching his fists as fury rolled off of him in waves. Not waves…no, she could literally feel the heat and energy off of the boy.

But they attacked at the same time.

She swiped the air, bringing over a lamp and a heavy plant down on the boy as…as fucking lazors exploded out of his chest in rings. There was no noise as they fanned out and completely destroyed the place, she ducked behind the desk, flinging books out behind her as she crouched and gritted her teeth. She hadn't seen a power like this before…it was amazing.

It'd be more amazing if the guy wasn't aiming on killing her.

The lazers slammed around, cutting and slicing through the books she unconsciously flung, easily. Books, paper and other debris began to whip around her in a furious hell. Forcing the boy to take a step back as sharp book covers slashed the air in front of him. Cadence began to lift off the ground, poised in the air as the objects spun dangerously. She could feel herself began to lose control but she knew when to pull back, Victor had helped her discover this new…powerful, graceful, floating technique. She used it to intimidate others…mainly.

"Alex!"

Another young man entered, then was promptly thrown back by the force of her power as the blonde, presumably Alex, cried out as a piece of metal smacked his head. She felt the brink of insanity grate along her skin and Cadence shut off.

She dropped to the ground heavily as did everything else. Her entire body hurt and ached as she stood up in the wreckage, she growled as the brunette in glasses charged in wielding a bat. She easily swatted it away with a thought. He flew and crashed into the blonde, smacking hard and dragging them down.

"Cade!" Victor's deep voice boomed and she ran out of the room holding her side as pain laced her body. She smacked into his chest, feet stumbling in front of the other before he drug her into a nearby room where Snake was, "Start piling now!"

She sat back on the floor, vision whiting out as she waved her hand, shoving the heavy furniture against the door blindly.

"Stay with me!" Victor knelt down, grabbing her as she tried to get to her feet, swaying. There were people yelling outside the door, pounding to get in, "Cadence!"

"We need to jump out!" snake hissed, breaking open the window in a single punch and harsh light slammed into the room. Cadence blinked, Victor let go to break more glass away.

"Whoever's in there is going to die!" a voice boomed on the other side of the door as Snake jumped out the window gracefully. Victor looked at her carefully, watching her sway to her feet and clutch her side. She gave him a look, shaking her head in disbelief. She continued to focus on clearing her head like a clean slate.

"Go victor."

"You first."

She nodded, barely noticing the metal bed beginning to shake away from the door, she gripped the windowsill, Victor's heavy hand a comforting weight on her back.

_Hello there._

She felt pain, suffering, torturous white-black pain pierce through her head as she screamed bloody murder. She fell back on the floor and clutching her face as she writhed. She couldn't feel. Blood trickled out of her nose as she continued to scream.

The bedroom door broke open in a haze of red and Victor was gone.

_I'm terribly sorry but you did invade_.

There was someone-someone in her head. Someone was talking to-

_Nothing you're feeling is real by the way. Just a simple projection of pain from me, count back from three Cadence, please._

How could she fucking count when there's sharp fingers digging into her stomach and slowly stripping away her flesh!?

_Please try, coming out of this would be easier._

FUCKING-

_Cadence_.

3, 2 fucking 1!

_Thank you darling._

The voice was gone and the white-splitting pain was gone and she was left to open her eyes. Blood was smeared all over her face as two people grabbed her and hauled her to her knees. She was a dead weight, did she…what happened?

"Take her down to the room." A man ordered, it sounded so far away as something scratchy was placed over her face.

Was she in Europe again? Where was…Victor wasn't in Europe-

She was jerked away and slowly fell into her conscious.

 

* * *

 

**CHARLES**

Charles leaned against the wall of the room where the unconscious girl was taken off to by Alex and Raven. He had never done that before, use pain as a weapon, and the images he had forced into the girl's broken down mind had been excruciating even for him. Her mind was the only one strong enough to not let him in but she had relented. No doubt this was the same girl from last night.

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose as a migraine began to form. She had so many walls, most likely due to some strong, negative psychological pain. But now that he had dipped his finger into her mind, he had the curiosity to keep searching for an answer.

He sighed as Erik came in with Sean, both out of breath.

"They get away?"

"That guy wasn't human man, he tore through the place like some rabid wolf," Sean huffed in excitement, Charles saw the images in the young man's head and Erik nodded in agreement.

"The other one slithered off. Literally." Erik folded his arms, "Did you get the others though?"

"Her, only one. Mutant as I'm guessing the other two were. She was strong too, completely destroyed my office along with Alex and Hank, and ruined dozens of my favorite books."

"Where did you put her? We should go after the other two." Erik's eyes flashed and Charles's raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"No. They're past my range of telepathy now. I need you by my side, Erik. We should go though, Raven has a temper tonight."

Charles and the other two went down to where their prisoner was being held.


	5. But the memories were powerful

The blue chick had a strong slap, fuck her face stung. Cadence's head snapped to the side beneath the burlap sack as a fist collided with her cheekbone as well.

She had woken up in a chair, tied tightly and incredibly pissed off as her mind replayed the events. Fucking Victor, the god damned coward. Snake though…Snake she could care less about, but Victor? Victor?! That's what she gets for teaming up with family-issues man.

Her nose bled more as the girl yelled and hit Cadence again, this time with a blunt object. She still couldn't use her powers, something was holding them down, and she could feel it. Like a blanket was wrapped snugly over her whole body.

Cadence groaned as her ribs began to bend the wrong way when the chick hit her again. She could spot colors through the holes in the sack but that was it.

Cadence spit blood out of her mouth as her captors took a minute to rest. She laughed, throat rough and body aching.

"That all you got? I've been through worse you blue bitch!"

"Raven, no!"

Cadence cried out as something was jammed straight through her shoulder. A knife, yeah that was a knife. Cadence painfully laughed again as two men fought to keep 'Raven' from smashing her face in further. Cadence leaned forward, head hanging as white pain throbbed through her body, a dead weight.

The door behind them opened and feet stumbled in as Raven stopped struggling. Silence.

"Out."

"But Charles-"

"Not another word, Raven. Hank, Alex go as well."

There was a stinging sensation behind Cadence's eyes as the people left, the pain jolted in her and she hissed low. Knife was out.

"Fuck!"

"Oh, sorry about that." An accented voice smoothed over her, obviously the Charles fellow and then the sack was pulled off her face. She blinked, light shining through finally as she struggled to make the world stop swinging, "Bloody hell. Raven had a nasty temper tonight. I'll fetch a first aid for you but first…I have questions I'd rather not pull from your mind."

Charles brushed a hand over her face as she connected lights and faces. She snapped away quickly from the touch as the handsome brit gave a smile. He was crouch in front of her, fingers slightly stained with red from the cuts on her face.

_I really am sorry._

"Stay out of my head." She spit out, coughing. Charles sighed and grabbed a chair from the corner as someone else closed the door.

"I apologize. My name is Charles Xavier, who are you?"

"Screw off."

"I'm only trying to be civil Ca-"

"You attacked me, who's the civil one now telepath?"

"Who were the people you were with?"

"None of your business." She growled and Charles stared at her, "Stop getting into my head, I can feel it."

"You're obviously very strong, enough to knock Alex and Hank off their feet at least-"

There. Her palms were finally beginning to heat up, a rush surged through her body. She smiled and shifted in her chair.

"-and enough for me not to be able to read you." Charles leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he studied her, "What are you blended with genetically?"

Cadence huffed and cocked an eyebrow.

The chair underneath Charles flew back and he cried out in surprise, she then jerked the knife out with a thought and used Charles' clothes and momentum to throw him up against the wall and then trap him within the legs of a chair. Behind her, people banged in the door and glass…so she was in an interrogation room…of a sort. Charles though, Charles was smiling.

"It's alright! Alright! I'm fine!" he shouted but to no avail, Cadence smirked.

But her breath was cut short, literally.

The metal cuffs and wire trapping her against the chair suddenly constricted, digging into her flesh. She gritted her teeth, using her full attention to fight against it. Charles and the chair dropped to the ground.

"No! Stop!"

Cadence's nose begun to bleed again from the effort of having the wire not crush her skeleton. God, this was so hard.

And familiar. Cadence blocked everything out.

"Erik! STOP!" Charles shouted as he ran to the suffering girl in the chair. She seemed like she wasn't even in the same room anymore. Her entire body was tense and struggling against the power of Erik's metal. Charles grabbed her with one hand and put two fingers to her temple.

ERIK!

Now Charles!

Charles growled before turning to the out-of-zone girl. She couldn't have been much younger than Raven.

"What's your name?" he shouted as she screamed, unable to stop one band tightening it around her middle.

One wire sprung up and wrapped around her neck, forcing her to bend back. Charles knew Erik wouldn't intentionally kill her but still.

"What's-"

"CADENCE! CADENCE LENSHERR!" she screamed out as all bands snapped into her.

The metal instantly fell away and Charles jerked back like she had been burnt. She slumped forward against the loose metal, crying and sobbing.

"Tell me everything." He commanded, the girl folded over.

"I'm…I'm Cadence Lensherr. I was-was raised in a concentration camp and taken prisoner." She sobbed as images flooded her mind from the blocked areas of her mind. Charles winced at the force of the memories, "I…I…"

The door opened suddenly and Charles had a moment before he was shoved backwards, his back slamming into the wall again. Charles, in a daze, watched as Erik walked in, eyes bright and wide.

The metal felt to the floor and the girl looked up as Erik knelt and reached for her hand.

"Erik?"

The German paused as she looked up at him, body still in shock as it overtook her. Charles warily got to his feet, trying to follow the images that both of the two were remembering and piecing together. They both stopped on a picture, in bed…looking at stars.

Erik and her collided at once, Erik's arms wrapping around her in relief, pain and fear…Charles suddenly felt like an intruder.

* * *

**ERIK**

He was finally looking into the soft, brown eyes. Eyes he thought had lost their fire seven years ago. He was holding her again, alive and thrumming against him. Erik's throat clenched and tightened as he pulled her down to the ground with him in his arms, kneeling on the tile. He was crying, shoulders shaking as was she. He was getting specks of blood over his clothes but he didn't care. All along, alive…she had been alive.

"Erik-oh god-Erik." She was sobbing and smiling as best as her split lip would allow. Erik couldn't breath as they pulled back, he held her face in his hands carefully as she grabbed his wrists.

She had grown a lot. Beneath the blood he could see she had grown into her freckles she had deemed ungodly. Her body was fit but still obviously in love with brownies. She was beautiful like the day she was taken away. She stared at him, no doubt calculating before and now as well.

"You…this can't be real. I heard you die-I watched you be dragged down the hall." He wipe the blood away and she swayed on her knees, "Klaus-Shaw said…so many things about you."

Charles came forward, Erik almost lashed out, completely forgetting the other man was in the room.

"Erik, she's about to pass-"

Cadence suddenly crumbled, Erik caught her before she hit the floor. Her eyes closed gently as he pulled her against him. He began to fear the worst, verdamnnt Raven beat her too fucking badly!

"Cadence?" Erik shook her as Charles called out for Hank, she didn't stir, "Cadence?!"

"Erik she's only sleeping." Charles came back cautiously with Hank in tow along with Alex. Erik was clutching to her wildly, "Erik, she's alive alright? Hank needs to take her, patch her up."

Hank moved carefully in front of Erik, pushing his glasses up on his nose and reaching to check Cadence's pulse. He paused.

"Erik, this would uh, this would be a lot easier if you let go of her." he raised an eyebrow as Alex handed him a warm, soft towel.

"Let me." Erik took the towel and wiped away the blood that hadn't dried before carefully tucking it around her. Her shoulder had nearly healed already.

They stood up, Cadence carefully held in Alex's arms as Hank confirmed to Erik she was only unconscious. They walked out of the room, Erik following close behind along with Charles before they turned to go to the lab where the medical supplies were.

"Erik!" Raven jogged up with Sean, back to her regular form, eyes wide with fear as she saw Hank and Alex walk away with the girl, "Oh god Erik, I'm so sorry. I had no idea-I mean, we couldn't have-"

"No. Not from you, I don't want to hear it." He bit out angrily. Raven immediately stepped back and Charles put a hand in Erik's shoulder.

"Enough. Both of you. My friend, I believe it's time we had a talk." Charles pointedly looked him in the eye. Raven left with a huff and Sean disappeared into the lab to help. Erik's shoulders dropped and he slid down the wall, head in hands. Charles joined him, shoulders bumping and waiting for an explanation.

The girl had used his last name, so obviously the two knew each other and had been very close…and that spoke a lot for Erik. He never let anyone, not even Raven. He still held her at arm's length, he was difficult but protective of his life story. For good reason.

"We met in the concentration camp I had met Shaw at. A month or two after he had exposed me. She was younger, not even Jewish but nobody cared there. She looked like it so she was it. Shaw said she was an emotional telekinetic, her emotions powered her abilities…like mine does. Rage and serenity."

"What happened?"

"She grew stronger as did I, but her conscience always forbade her to complete the missions. She was passionate where I wasn't. It was something I was always jealous of, she could easily pull away with no guilt. If it wasn't for me, cleaning up her accidents…I have a feeling Shaw would have killed her sooner."

"The last time I saw her, saw Shaw. He had promised he had killed her in the most vulgar ways possible. He had said she was a loose end and had sold us out on multiple occasions…but she had been with me every day, literally. She had never once let my side for more than a minute or two."

"…Erik, did you-"

"Yes. With everything I had. She was the only girl I had let into my life and the only one I'd ever let under my skin." Erik forced a laugh and wiped his face with a strained sigh, "She doesn't know it but I have this ring she always wore. For a while I had imagined we were married you know? With her, it felt like it anyways."

"Then Shaw took her from you." Charles watched as Erik's eyes grew stormy then glassy. He slumped forward, voice cracking.

"How old were you two?"

"She was barely 18. Her birthday had been the week before she left. She had dragged me to a club, forced me to go dancing."

"Dancing? You?" Charles chuckled and Erik nodded, smiling widely.

"She was always like that, spontaneous."

They listened as Hank and the others finished up and came out before walking away quietly, Erik sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"She's not dead, Erik."

"I know that."

"So go in there. She's waking up." Charles got to his feet, pulling the German up with him and dusting off his shoulders, "Erik?"

"What if she doesn't remember me? What if she's blocked it all out it's been such-"

My friend." Charles squeezed Erik's shoulder reassuringly, "She does. She's picturing your face, your mind. She knows you and quite frankly, I'm astounded by the memories she's projecting….a dark room, stars and you besides her."

Erik pushed open the door after a second and closed it softly. Charles smiled as Raven came around the corner hesitantly, frowning. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they walked away.

"You heard then?"

"Love confessions suck more than I thought…I thought Erik…"she leaned further into him.

Charles saw through Erik's eyes now as he sat on the edge of the bed, just looking at Cadence. He could feel the warmth spreading between them as she woke up and smiled before intertwining her fingers in his.

"What will we do with her?" Raven looked up. Charles shrugged.

"That's for Erik and her to decide…Let's go get some food."

* * *

CADENCE

Finally, finally she was calm enough to recognize the real blue-gray eyes in front of her. She had waited so long. Erik was alive, Erik was real and right in front of her. Her head spun with memories of soft German songs and his laugh. They had been staring for a while, taking everything in. Erik finally cleared his throat.

"You look good…grown up."

"So do you. You finally managed to style that hair the way you want I see." She laughed and cocked her head to the side, eyes shining.

He leaned forward and kissed her, a strong hand cupping her jaw and pulling her forward. She gave in easily, letting his hunger overtake him as he ravaged her mouth with new-found heat. She arched into him as they furiously kissed, hands grabbed and pulled and she was fairly certain she whimpered as he pressed her down on the bed further. His long, lean frame pressed against her heavily.

She didn't care.

But she did pull back, gasping for air as Erik rolled his hips against hers and groaned. She bit her lip as he collected himself.

"God, I thought I had lost you." He breathed into her neck, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "I swore I'd kill anyone who touched you."

"I thought I'd never see you again too…what is this place?"

"Where have you been? I tried to…there were stories around Europe but I was never sure."

Cadence sighed as he rolled off, she curled against his side, her head on his chest as he held her. This was familiar to them.

"I was in Europe for a bit then Canada and the U.S. I went back after a while, to see if I could track you and Klaus down but you two were long gone."

"I left Shaw's army after a while, after he said he killed you. I was in Europe for the rest until I tracked him down to Mexico."

"Well…we had to keep moving unfortunately, you at least got to stay in one relative place."

"We?"

"The big guy I was with. His name's Victor. He was the one that actually saved me that day, he looked after me. He taught me a lot, actually. Hell of a lot more than what I could've learned from you and Klaus, no offense."

"It wasn't…then…uh…"

"He used me, I used him. We weren't-I mean there were times but I was still a kid, Erik. I barely understood myself as it was."

"I've missed your grown-up birthdays then…you're 25."

"And you're nearly thirty, an old man." She joked and he laughed. A real laugh that he hadn't felt since she was ripped from his life. It all felt like a dream still, "So…what now?"

"You stay here until you're better, and then after you'll stay by my side and we kill Shaw." He shrugged, she sat up, eyes wide in surprise.

"You know where he is?"

"We've all been following him. Charles is a brilliant telepath, he's helping everyone get ready to take the bastard down."

Cadence remembered the day she was taken. The pain, the anger…watching Erik struggle and fight to reach her. Killing Shaw….killing Shaw would definitely bring her some peace."

"Alright. I'm in." she bent forward, kissing him softer this time and with a new purpose, "I love you Erik, I've always loved you."

"…I've never stopped." He looked at her, heavy hand at the back of her neck. He pulled her forward, forcing the curtains close and encasing them in complete darkness. The doors locked and the lights cut off.

His missing piece was back, he could live again he could go on because she kept him in line, she was his rhythm.

His cadence call.


	6. Epilogue

The pure white grave stone shone out on the hill. The grass had grown beautifully around it, giving the tombstone an earthy feel, it looked like it belonged there. Strangely.

A hand, aged with power and battle scars reached out and the particles of metal that had been imbedded in the stone warmed up to the touch. The older man smiled, something he never did anymore. The metal had reminded him of her skin, always warm and vibrating with energy.

Magneto, not Erik…not Erik Lensherr anymore, kneeled before the stone. The crunching of the crisp leaves and whisper of his cape on the grass flowed and he bowed his head, resting it on the edge of the stone and closing his eyes for a second.

"Hello Erik."

"Charles." Magneto stood back up before looking up at the sky. Charles stared at the stone, eyes glistening as he settled more comfortably in his wheelchair. Magneto could sense two other mutants nearby, could feel adamantium metal vibrating down below.

It had been a long time ago, but the pain hadn't stopped for either one of them. It was there, a constant reminder in their hearts of the choices that got them where they were today. It was an invisible hand at their throats, choking them when they thought about it.

"She was a beautiful person. A wonderful friend."

"I know…I loved her." Magneto crossed his hands in front of him solemnly as his cape brushed Charles' arm. The metal ring around Magneto's neck burned.

"I know old friend, I know." Charles sighed and looked down at the stone again.

That day in Cuba, that day she had chosen Charles over Erik's dark path. Magneto could remember it so clearly.

* * *

 

**_Cuba_ **

"Erik!" Cadence screamed, the sand had flown everywhere as Azazel threw her to the ground with his tail.

Charles had gone down and Erik…Erik was holding him like the telepath was dying. She could hear her own heart in her ears. No, fuck no! The bombs fell into the ocean one by one as she got up, nobody moved on both sides except for her. She had shoved Azazel aside and ran, the sand felt like mud as she raced to them. Her suit felt like a python around every inch of her skin.  _She couldn't fucking breathe!_

She had dropped to her knees across from Erik as he held Charles. Erik could only stare down at his friend in disbelief as Cadence struggled to stop the bleeding from Charles' back, keeping pressure on the wound. Erik turned to Moira, still poised with her gun as Charles winced in pain and ground his teeth.

Charles had felt her fear. Not only of losing him but of finally losing Erik as well. Killing shaw was her only goal along with finding Erik but…looking into her mind, she had wanted nothing else but peace and a home. A family. They had all grown close, Raven and her had begun to act like sisters only four days before today. Cadence had gripped them like family, loved them all like lovers. She cared, she had learned to care again and to become less violent and eventually, she had reverted back to the girl she used to be.

"I'm sorry my friend, but we do not."

Erik had stood up, away from them and letting Charles fall into her arms. Her heart began to beat frantically and her breaths shortened in hysteria as she watched him walk away. She called to him weakly as she kept pressure on Charles but he didn't listen.

The helmet on Erik's head shone brilliantly. He spoke, voice rough and strained and all Charles could hear was the dawning of disappointment and heartbreak in Cadence's head and heart as the man she loved turned into someone else. Someone she knew he'd eventually become. There was still blood on her from where Shaw had sliced her when she tried to protect Erik. She was in pain but she couldn't feel it. She was bleeding for Erik now, literally.

"Erik please!" Cadence snapped Erik's speech off, "Charles needs a  _goddamn_ doctor now!"

He had ignored her, eye too full of pride and a new beginning against humans. Cadence cried, tears falling down her face as she helped Charles sit up more. Her shoulders shook and he pressed a kiss to her dirty temple, trying to calm her down.

Then raven had walked forward as Moira rushed to help Cadence finally. His sister had her path chosen. He tried not to think of her choice as a betrayal but it stung. Her blue skin shone under the Cuban sun as she stood with Erik and his new army. Cadence didn't let go of him, her grip tightened on Charles' arm.

"You need to go." Charles had looked at her, wiping her tears across her dirty face, "You need him."

She had risen up and gone to Erik and again Charles tried not to burn with hate as Erik welcomed his wife. They had married after they were reunited. He again welcomed her with open arms and a searing kiss. Pain lashed through Charles' heart.

"Erik. I love you." Cadence had whispered in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Erik smiled beneath his helmet like a shark, "You're my husband and I love you  _so_  much."

"And you my wife. We need-"

"No." She pulled away, letting her hands trail down his chest as she backed away. Charles could sense nothing in her mind but utter serenity, "I'm not coming, Erik."

"…Ca…Cadence?"

She turned away and went back to Charles, heart breaking as she helped him sit up again. He didn't need to try and break through to Erik's mind, he could see the man shatter just the same from her choice. The tears going down both of their faces were from pure, clear biting pain. Cadence wrapped an arm around Charles along with Moira.

"You take care of him Mystique!" Cadence shouted, voice breaking as her eyes never left her lover. Anger and pain surged through her, "You take care of him you hear?"

"I will." Raven had nodded, each of the new mutant enemy locking hands, "And beast! Remember…mutant. And proud."

Erik had looked to her, knowing it could be the last he could look at her with pure love. Never again, never again would he love another as much as he had loved her.

"I love you." He stared and in a cloud of sulfur and smoke they had vanished. The rescue choppers could be heard not far off.

"Why…did you stay?"

"I know Erik, what we talked about." She shook her head, "I don't want more people to die. I don't like death, all it brings is pain and suffering."

After that it had been white pain and then nothing from the waist down.

As he was loaded into the chopper he had spotted her, bending down to pick something up from where Erik had stood and staring at the sky. She said something but Charles couldn't bring himself to want to know.

* * *

 

**The Cemetery**

Both of the men sighed as their memories blew away again into their mind.

"She chose you." Magneto looked to Charles finally but Charles shook his head.

"No, old friend. She chose her path and you chose yours just as Raven and I did that day."

"Yes, but she-"

"Erik, my friend. She has been the only one who has never raised a finger to hurt you. She loved you." Charles met the grey eyes above before they looked away.

She had died protecting Erik in the end, five years after their departure. A human had tried to kill Erik with plastic bullets during a mutant-human riot. She had taken it straight through the heart and had died in his arms before the Xmen had come to stop the riot and take her away.

It had been the only time Brotherhood and Xmen had stopped fighting and stood together to mourn a friend and a lover. Charles, Erik, Raven and everyone else new and old had felt how much she had been sewn into their lives. Logan took her death almost the hardest, the two of them had grown immeasurably close as she helped him regain his memories.

Magneto sighed, placing a hand on Charles' shoulder. The only contact of peace they had made since the war began. Charles had loved her just as much, she had stuck with him through good and bad. Today was the anniversary of her death, it was to always be spent in peace.

"You were a good man Erik, still are in different terms. Remember her."

"Not a day goes by that I don't."

Magneto walked away, cape softly trailing behind. Charles watched the metal in the stone sparkle, he looked down and saw a lovely white flower blooming.

The sun shone on.

END.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! I made this way back in 2014 but i'm reuploading it here from fanfiction.net so enjoy!  
> unbeta'd and i dont own anything other than my own characters i created


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